WCom-5932:1642 English Civil War
Silver Medal.A military reward from
the 3rd Earl of Essex, Robert Devereaux
(Oliver Cromwell’s Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary
army) to an actual soldier in the Cromwellian
army.Silver, cast
& chased, 30x22mm.Listed in Medallic Illustration
(M.I.298/117, pt. 1) as Rare.See here.The Civil War was a particularly unpleasant
period in British history.Tensions were
extremely high between not just the Charles 1st and the Cromwell combatants,
but in fact every citizen of the land.Loyalty to either the Parliamentarians or the Royalists ran deep,
suspicion was everywhere and normal, everyday people were actually scared (with
good reason) to show loyalty in case the other person was in the opposite
camp.This medal is a tangible link with
the Civil War, being not just a generic propaganda or supporters’ medal, but an
actual medal given by the 3rd Earl of Essex, Robert Devereaux, with Cromwell’s blessing, to a real soldier who
fought in the campaign.£995

WCom-5686:1658 Oliver Cromwell
Milled Silver Halfcrown.Rare Dutch copy, late 1600’s to very early
1700’s, cast from the Simon dies.The
coin is unusual in two aspects:Firstly,
the amount of wear indicates the coin was passed into circulation.These Dutch copies were intended to supply
collectors with Cromwell coins rather than be used as currency.Very few coins were available at this time
due to the unpopularity of Cromwell after the Restoration.It is recorded that of the small number of
coins that were not recalled by the mint, many were deliberately defaced.Interestingly, I have never seen such a
defaced Cromwell coin, in the same way that I have never seen a contemporary
counterfeit Henry 1st penny (BMC 6-14),
although the mint at the time obviously thought it was a problem because they
officially cut every coin leaving the mint to show the public the coin was
silver.Being cast after the
Protectorate, the Cromwell halfcrown would not have
circulated in the UK so presumably passed into European circulation, being just
a lump of silver in that market place.Secondly, and more interestingly, this coin is 11.98 grams.It is also a smaller flan by a mm or so.As a cast
silver coin, it is difficult to understand how you could create a smaller,
lighter coin from the original.The nature of casting dictates like for like.Double shillings or Florins were issued in
this later Dutch / Tanner period.Although they are recorded as being double thickness shillings, it is
extremely interesting to note that the weight of these florins was 12g, exactly
the same weight as this coin.Further
research required on this intriguing coin.£995

WCom-6496:1654 Commonwealth Hammered
Silver Halfcrown.High grade and good weight (14.51) so more an irregular flan than
excessive clipping, although there has been a degree of clipping as 15g was the
standard.An
interesting coin in that the obverse is an earlier 1653 die and the 5 in the
reverse date looks to be over a 4, although this is definitely not a modified
1649 die.Of the many variations
of 1654 halfcrowns listed on Sun&Anchor,
this appears to be a new, unlisted variety.£1,295

WCom-6403:1653 Commonwealth Hammered
Silver Shilling.Oliver
Cromwell’s Commonwealth, initial mark Sun, 5.42g.The obverse reads: COMMONWEATH [L missing]
and there is no stop after THE.The
ticket states this is the recorded COMMONWEALH [T missing] variety which is
E.S.C.989 (I’m told E.S.C. 130 in the revised edition?), rated at R4 rarity
which means 11-20 known examples.This
coin is actually an E.S.C. unrecorded “missing L” variety.If you look at the definitive guide to Commonwealth
coinage (http://www.SunandAnchor.com), you will see both varieties listed and
both having six star rarity values.The COMMONWEATH
die (this coin) also has the missing stop after THE whereas
the missing T variety doesn’t.A great
rarity in the Commonwealth series being unrecorded in E.S.C. (Spink don’t
bother listing any variations), full of flan and nice grade.£895

WCom-6483:1651 Commonwealth Hammered
Silver Sixpence – Rarer Variety.Full of flan with a very clear date.No stops after COMMONWEALTH indicating this
is an earlier, 1650 obverse.Spink 3219 var.Ex Spink (see
here).The 1650 obverse was
problematic so effort was put into the 51 obverse in terms of
improvements.This is a rare die
combination.£595

WCom-5912:1654 over 3 Commonwealth
Hammered Silver Sixpence.Relatively full of flan – minimal clipping with an unusually clear
date.This is the rarer 4 over 3 variety which E.S.C. rates at R2.The coin has slight creasing probably due to
the practise of biting the coin to see if it was genuine silver in the
1650’s.Some toning.£495